latest build advice
 

Amd Athlon II x3 435
Gigabyte GA870A UD3
Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 64 REV 2
4 gb (2x2) G'Skill f3-10600cl9d-4gbnt
Gigabyte 4670 1gb
Antec Basiq 550 plus
Samsung burner
Asus burner
WD Caviar Black 500 gb
Rosewill Challenger Case
Fans Yate Loon (hopeful unpgrade)
First build, though I've upgraded parts before. Looking for a good web surfer/ media center /semi office rig.
May go to four core cpu.
Please discuss strengths or weaknesses.;-D

if you are lucky your CPU will unlock to 4 cores :)

3 cores is more than enough for your needs... unless you can find a good deal on a quad... ( check ebay or such, loas of people are dumpng their older CPUs...

Don't forget the 880GMA-UD2H, very cool tiny board, onboard ATI 4250 is more than suitable for most multimedia apps... (saves you the cost of the 4670) If performance is not good enough you can still add a dedicated PCI-E GPU

Honestly, if the only thing you want to do with it is browsing the web, checking your mails and using Word and be able to watch an occasional movie here and there, why not buy a smartphone instead?

uncertainyy and experience
 

I want to be able to put together computers and know what I'm doing.
I have practiced on old P4 boxes.
I have chosen the best price verses performance computer components in the hope it will remain viable for a while, silly idea that is.
Anyway looks good, works almost good lol.
Board is stable, but I am getting an 85 degree C temperature reading,
Several searches sugguest a malfunction of Temperature sensor likely.
All other sensors remaing under 40 Degree C.
Added two side fans to increase air flow, mostly low 30s readings except for 85 degree reading.
Readings from Speed Fan.

I have been using a Compaq SR1230NX Athlon XP 3200+ since Jan 06. Updated to Vista and using FX 5200.
May explain over kill.
May get a better video card and try gaming.
I VERY much prefer bigger cases and ATX boards, but everything changes.